Lawyer asks to withdraw from alleged courthouse bombing case

Friday

Jul 30, 2010 at 12:01 AMJul 30, 2010 at 8:16 PM

The original attorney for alleged would-be federal courthouse bomber Michael C. Finton has asked to withdraw from the case after Finton contacted The State Journal-Register and another local media outlet without the lawyer’s knowledge.

Chris Dettro

The original attorney for alleged would-be federal courthouse bomber Michael C. Finton has asked to withdraw from the case after Finton contacted The State Journal-Register and another local media outlet without the lawyer’s knowledge.

In a motion filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Springfield, assistant federal defender Robert Scherschligt asked U.S. Judge David Herndon to allow him to withdraw.

Herndon on Tuesday appointed Edwardsville attorney J. William Lucco to Finton’s defense team after agreeing last week to appoint an attorney who doesn’t regularly do business in the Paul Findley Federal Building.

Herndon is based in Illinois’ southern federal court district. Federal judges in Springfield, in the central district, declined to hear the case because they all work in the same building Finton is accused of trying to blow up.

Finton, 30, a part-time fry Cook from Decatur, also goes by the name Talib Islam. He is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against United States property and with attempting to murder a federal officer or employee.

Finton thought he was detonating a van loaded with a ton of explosives parked near the federal courthouse on Sept. 23, the government alleges. Authorities say Finton used a cellular telephone to send a signal he thought would detonate the “bomb” inside.

Finton, who had converted to Islam while serving time in state prison, didn’t know he was working with the FBI and not al-Qaida agents, and the van contained no real explosives, authorities said.

Quinton filed a pro se motion July 16 asking for substitution of counsel. He said Scherschligt and assistant federal defender Robert Alvarado both work in the Springfield federal courthouse and therefore can’t provide unbiased representation.

Herndon denied the motion, but agreed to appoint an attorney from the southern Illinois district to Finton’s team.

Scherschligt, in his motion to withdraw, said he learned Monday that Finton had contacted the two media outlets and invited them to interview him at the Sangamon County Jail, where he has been held since Sept. 23.

Scherschligt met with Finton Tuesday and again advised him that it wouldn’t be in Finton’s best interests to discuss his case with anyone, including the media.

Finton refused to follow Scherschligt’s advice, Scherschligt said. That refusal, along with Finton’s earlier claim that his lawyers were biased against him, “has resulted in a chilling effect on the existing attorney-client relationship,” Scherschligt said in his motion.

Finton is scheduled for trial in September, but that date appears unlikely.

Attorneys said earlier this month that plea negotiations were under way, but there was no mention at last week’s hearing that Finton wanted to change his not-guilty plea.